Correction: Due to an editing error, St. John’s University president Father Donald Harrington was misidentified as Father John Harrington in a story written by Lenn Robbins in Wednesday’s Post.

The Post regrets the error.SJU PRESIDENT: WE’LL HIT HOMER WITH NEXT COACH The president of St. John’s University believes the school’s basketball program can be restored to prominence, and he stands ready to use any means necessary to find a coach who can make that happen, he told The Post yesterday.

“I clearly will want us to get the best and most effective coach we possibly can – to keep, or perhaps as some would say, bring us back to the level that St. John’s has traditionally been,” Father John Harrington said in an exclusive interview in his third-floor Newman Hall office – his first in-depth comments since the stunning dismissal of Mike Jarvis on Dec. 19.

St. John’s is currently working to identify the qualities wanted in the next coach, more than compiling a list of candidates, Harrington said.

Bottom line: Harrington wants a coach who has made his players’ education the priority, and one who has won without cheating.

Although he declined to discuss specific candidates, Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt, Providence’s Tim Welsh and former Seton Hall and Golden State Warriors coach P.J. Carlesimo all fit that profile.

“Most of the names that would at least be out there, from what I hear, are people that are working,” Harrington said. “I wouldn’t want to hire a coach who’s going to walk out on his own university in the middle of the season.”

“Is there an urgency? Yeah,” Harrington added. “But that’s not the same type of urgency as, ‘I want it done by Feb. 1. I want to know who the man is.’ “

Harrington acknowledged that athletic director David Wegrzyn is assembling a small research group to help oversee what most agree is the most important coaching hire in St. John’s history.

Men’s basketball is the only revenue-generating sport at St. John’s, which plays West Virginia at 7:30 tonight at Alumni Hall, and the team’s recent swoon (4-12, 0-6 Big East) has resulted in empty seats and a diminished interest in Red Storm basketball.

With the Big East poised to add powers such as Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville and Marquette, St. John’s must hit, as one Top 10 coach said, “a grand slam, not a double off the wall” with this hire.

The next coach must be capable of walking into a recruit’s home before or after Rick Pitino or Jim Calhoun, and convincing that player to attend St. John’s. Under Jarvis, the Red Storm lost out on most of the elite high school players, especially from the New York City area, such as Ben Gordon (UConn) and Chris Taft (Pittsburgh).

“We know the importance of recruiting and New York City roots; we all know that, so, yes, stature would be wonderful,” said Harrington. “But what’s most important is to make sure it’s the right person for St. John’s and, most important, the students.”

Equally as important – if not more – than a coach’s ability to recruit, win, raise money and sell tickets, is his dedication to the players’ education and maturation, Harrington said.

“If players are not going to class, I want the coach to accept that as his responsibility and get him to class or they’re not playing,” Harrington added. “He can’t make them study, but he sure can motivate them to study.”

Harrington said that Wegrzyn would be his point man and that St. John’s will use every available resource, from former coach Lou Carnesecca to the Big East office, to prominent alumni in and out of the coaching profession around the country. Money, furthermore, won’t be a deterrent.

“There’s a firm conviction that we will stay with this and invest the resources that are necessary to do it, because we see the value to the university,” said Harrington.